The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF), EI’s largest affiliate in Canada, has responded to the Prime Minister’s call for early federal elections on 2 May by asking people to “vote for candidates who give priority to education and public programs that support the well-being of children and youth.”
CTF President, Mary-Lou Donnelly highlighted the many challenges faced by public education in Canada, explaining that “although responsibility for education lies with the provinces and territories, programs and services of many government departments directly affect teaching and learning in Canadian classrooms.”
As examples for policies by federal agencies impacting directly on grass-roots teachers in their everyday work, she cited Indian and Northern Affairs (aboriginal education), Canadian Heritage (official languages and copyright), Human Resources and Skills Development (labour, poverty and homelessness), Finance and Health.
Donnelly also referred to a document recently published by CTF and entitled Federal election: education, children and youth. Widely shared across Canada, this document highlights the union’s position and recommendations on issues such as child poverty, child care, international cooperation, status of women and women’s rights, labour rights and cyber-conduct.
EI supports its Canadian colleagues in their struggle to ensure free public education for all and urges federal election candidates to endorse strong education policies favouring inclusive education, the employment of qualified teachers to deliver quality education and decent wages for education workers.